SC compares NAB chief to literary character ‘who sold his soul to the Devil’

ISLAMABAD: In its detailed judgment on the Panama Case, the Supreme Court of Pakistan compared Chairman National Accountability Bureau to a fictional character who “sold his soul to the Devil”.

On page 185, the verdict compared NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry to Dr. Faustus, a character from Christoper Marlowe’s play “Dr. Faustus”.

SC stated, “In Christopher Marlowe’s play ‘Doctor Faustus’ Doctor Faustus had sold his soul to Lucifer (the Devil) for a temporary worldly gain which had ultimately led to his perpetual damnation and it appears that in the present case respondent No. 2 had also decided to act similarly for the purpose of repaying his benefactor.”

The verdict read, “Such a possibility of the Chairman, National Accountability Bureau being beholden to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly for his appointment and thereby extending favours to them and refusing to proceed against them when otherwise required to do so had been commented upon by me in the case of Shahid Orakzai v. Pakistan.”

It is pertinent to mention that the judgment started by referencing a quote from Mario Puzio’s novel “The Godfather”.